The WTFery of Hatemail

A yellow road sign that reads WTF?Every now and again, I get hatemail. Sometimes it's people who are mad that I reviewed negatively a book they loved, or an author they love, and sometimes it's people who take exception to the site, or something we've done in the past. It happens, and it's rare enough that I delete it and move on. 

Today I got an email that was rather fantastic in the vitriol, and called to mind the authors who have reported angry letters about the sexual content or the number of curse words in their books. This person, it seems, takes great exception to the books we/I've written, the fact that I'm a female, and given the closing, possibly also the fact that I'm Jewish. Have a look at the screedy hateration: 

To: Sarah, Candy
From: R.K. 

Subject: Nein

Your books are the most corruptable form of literature ever written. The iniquity
of your books are unfathomable and it is vile and diabolical garbage. Women are genetically and hereditarily
dysfunctional degenerate sexual creatures, who have fallen from God's grace and only redeemable by man. You are doing the Devil's work. You don't know anything, you disregard Darwinism and evolution. You are contemptuous towards God and I will sue you for all you are worth. Your writing is poison, and Shakespeare would
mock and laugh at your elementary writing style. I will make sure all these books are burned and disregarded as degenerate art. It will be my political role, I will make it my life's work.

 

Kinder. Kuche. Kirche.

 

WOW, huh? That is some grade-A asshattery right there. 

First: that last part is German for “Children, Kitchen, Church,” the alleged proper domains for women. The phase is associated with the Third Reich, though the Wikipedia article doesn't indicate that the Nazis used the phrase in any propaganda. That said, way to send some Nazi references to the Jewish lady! Happy new year to you, sir! 

What I don't quite get is how exactly my books are doing the “Devil's work” because women are “genetically and hereditarily dysfunctional degerenate sexual creatures” who are “only redeemable by man.” Does this dude think I write romance? I am also at a loss as to how on earth this person gets any dates (let alone sex) while carrying around such a low opinion of women. 

But hey, if he's burning my books, as Lillie pointed out on Twitter, he has to buy them first, so yay royalties! 

The email was sent from an address with a name attached, which I promptly Googled. Unless the person who sent it is using someone else's email account to send out their happy dispatches, it appears this person is a law student at Rutgers-Newark. Get ready, attorneys of the future. Given that the Google-trail is pretty limited for this person's name, I'm not 100% sure I've identified the correct person, but some of his philosophical quotes on LinkedIn seem to indicate I have the right dude. I'm not going to publish his name (because it would suck royally if I'm wrong) but I have all the links saved.

Clearly this person is level-11!11!ty enraged about something, and if it's his life's role to make sure my books are burned and regarded as “degenerate art,” that can only help sales. Awesome. Thanks, dude!

I'm going to go do more Devil's work now, by which I mean, reading romances and enjoying them. Hope you're doing the Devil's work – or at the very least writing some poison! 

Categorized:

General Bitching...

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  1. You know, I’m trying to figure out if you should report this guy to the state bar and/or his law school.

    On the one hand, it could ruin his life.

    On the other hand, do we really want someone who thinks that women are “genetically and hereditarily dysfunctional degenerate sexual creatures” practicing law? Acting as a prosecutor, and deciding when to go after a rapist?

    I’m having a hard time with that one, but at some point, I have to think that you’re not ruining his life by reporting what he has said—he ruined his life by saying it in the first place.

  2. Jane says:

    I strongly believe you should at least let this person’s employers know the type of material they’re sending out. Do your due diligence, but let them know.

  3. Librarymary40 says:

    Sign me up for some of that corrupting lit!
    Best to breathe and remember you can’t fix crazy or stupid. (insert a lawyer joke if you wish) Anyway, hang in there, this librarian has your back!

  4. Jody Wallace says:

    How much is he going to get when he sues you for all you are worth? Seeing as he doesn’t think wimmins are worth anything… The email is so poorly written it feels like it was created (by Darwin? Or God?) using an online screed generator.

  5. Lyra Archer says:

    Ah the dulcet tones of an angry man who can’t get sex. There’s nothing like a melodious temper tantrum to make you wanna get out the neutering gear.

    Plus he wants to sue you for all you are worth, but on what grounds? Being a lady?
    Writing things that make his man bits feel things? Being a lady who is not a baby-having-gumball machine? I am so confused by this. I need clarification, so I can laugh my ass off with more precision!

  6. Sandy O says:

    I’m sure such a “righteous dude” as he is, he will understand he reaps what he sows.  Count me in as thinking you should report him.  He sounds like a white supremacist, and I don’t know of a group I hate worse.

  7. SelenaBlake says:

    Wow. Just wow. I’m with Courtney on this one. Seems kind of like idle, drunk rambling. That, yes, he thinks you’re an author of romance. But I’d report him to somebody.

  8. Barb says:

    Impressive in its insanity.  The university most likely has a student conduct office – send the info to them and/or the dean of the law college, and let them do the investigation.

  9. SelenaBlake says:

    Lyra, thanks for that laugh. Baby-having-gumball machine made my eyes water.

  10. God, what an awful email to get. I’m with Courtney on this. So sorry you got such hatred. Clearly this guy has a lot of problems.

  11. Also, I want to make it clear that I wouldn’t generally suggest reporting someone to their employer just because they’re a dickbag. If he’d said, “Sarah, you’re a genetically and hereditarily dysfunctional degenerate sexual creatures,” that goes in the line of personal insults.

    But admission to the bar requires that lawyers pass a character and fitness component, and for a good reason—lawyers aren’t just representatives of clients; they’re officers of the court, and a lawyer who lacks the requisite character can use the power of the law in ways that can ruin an innocent person’s life. (Something this guy has already threatened to do, I note.)

    Most bars have character and fitness tests would exclude someone who made racial/sexual slurs, on the theory that anyone who is that openly racist should not be allowed to marshal the power of the law to harass others. (I say “most” because I haven’t done a survey.) One of the consequences about being an open sexist is that sometimes, you don’t get to be a lawyer.

    As a general rule, I don’t favor reporting people to employers or the government for being massive dickbags—but this is one of those instances where the person in question has already indicated that he plans to use his power as a lawyer to harass, and the state bars have said that this kind of activity can and should prevent admission to the bar.

  12. At the very least if it’s someone using his e-mail account and his name the real dude has a right to know. (I happen to have a cyber bully who likes to make fake accounts under my name and the names of ones I love who have died. So it is completely possible the LinkedIn account might be fake.)

    But also if it’s the real dude, his employers and school have a right to know he’s crazy.

    Either way report him. If it’s someone pretending to be him in order to discredit him you’ll be doing him a favor by making him aware of it. And if it’s really him and he’s a looney bigot you’re doing the world a favor by keeping him from being a lawyer.

  13. Growlycub says:

    The subject line is German too, some of it looks like it’s been badly machine translated.

    Kinder, Kueche, Kirche sounds very current GOP American to me… a la pregnant and barefoot

  14. Robin L. Rotham says:

    Sounds to me like he’s off his meds. I’d definitely report his kuchenesque manifesto to the college before he hurts someone and let them sort out whether or not he’s the author.

  15. Patsy says:

    As an attorney, I agree with the need to report this person, at the very least to the administration of Rutgers. If someone is wrongfully utilizing a student’s account, that student needs to be warned of the violation. Otherwise, the school’s administration and the character/fitness board need to know about this—he’s threatening to sue you, afterall.

  16. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m making that “Women are genetically and hereditarily dysfunctional degenerate sexual creatures” line into a t-shirt.  Perhaps I’ll cross-stitch it onto a pillow.

  17. @Jessica I’ll take a throw pillow, cross-stitched with the quote please. It would look lovely on my bed…

    Wow. This guy is CRAZY. But thanks for sharing. It was like a train wreck, I couldn’t possibly look away and it’ll haunt my mind just thinking that people like this really still exist! Ultimately it was kinda entertaining too…hmm…what does that say about me? Maybe I really do need that throw pillow… 😉

  18. I’d just like to observe that if this asshat’s a law student, he’s clearly not absorbing his studies very well if he thinks he can get very far suing you!

    Then again, maybe he’s studying to be an INTERNET LAWYER!

  19. kkw says:

    Great, now I have that Bel Biv Devoe song stuck in my head. Poison, poison, that girl is poison.  What, are we not sharing pain?

    For an unexpected change of pace, at least the psychopathic nazi religious misogynist comes down on the side of Darwin.  Although I wonder how you’ve disregarded evolution?  Because, you know, all the rest of it makes so much sense…

    There’s a lot of schizophrenia in my family, and this reads to me like exactly that kind of wrong.  One of my cousins sends out vitriolic emails from any unguarded computer, and college is just around the time it usually hits guys, and I’m sure there are a zillion opportunities to use someone else’s computer.  So I wouldn’t assume it’s from the guy who apparently sent it, but I’d guess it needs to be looked into regardless.

    Although the whole mess is clearly Someone Else’s Problem.

  20. CarrieS says:

    I want the throw pillow too!

  21. Amelia says:

    Ok so he buys the books, two books isn’t going to make an impressive fire…so here’s to hoping he buys a lot of books.

  22. Scrin says:

    “I am the Devil, and I come to do the Devil’s work.”

    On the other hand, it seems misogyny and racism are sort of…well, I won’t say they’re on the rise, but their followers are getting a lot more vocal because they realize they’re dying out.

  23. katherinelynn_04 says:

    I like how he brings evolution and Darwinism into it. I don’t recall you ever having an opinion on it (and even if you had, your beliefs are your own business).

    If he’s a law student, is he really planning on suing you for all you’re worth because you’re ‘contemptuous’ of God? Does he really feel that will hold up in court? If so, we don’t need to worry about this d-bag passing the Bar.

  24. Ann F. says:

    I’m just sorry you got that message.  It sounds like you are doing a good job of making light of it but I’ll be honest, that scares me.  I hope you live nowhere near him.  He doesn’t sound stable. 

  25. Sveta says:

    He sounds like a bigot to me. G-d forbid he’s married or will have a girlfriend. He also sounds scary and yes, schizophrenic. (Used to have an extremely religious friend who, minus the women part, had slightly similar thoughts, or at least believed the devil was real and all that. Not fun…)

    Happy Rosh Hashanah to whoever celebrates it!

    http://sveta-randomblog.blogsp…

  26. Vicki says:

    I agree with kkw that schizophrenia sounds very likely. I am sorry you had to deal with this and I hope someone finds and medicates this guy before he does any real damage to himself or others.

  27. Carrie says:

    Wow. I’m impressed. He has you slandering God and Darwin in the same paragraph. That made no sense at all. “You have a fallen from God’s grace because you are evolutionarily inferior.” Huh??

    Sorry for the crazy, Sarah.

  28. Tamara @ Shelf Addiction says:

    Wow, that’s one crazy email!

  29. DreadPirateRachel says:

    Gracious. If you’re pissing off bigots to the point of mouth-frothing, you must be doing something right. Keep up the good, er, Devil’s work!

    Also, @Jessica Weiner, sign me up for the throw pillow, because that’s some awesome shit.

  30. Liz H says:

    As a Rutgers-Newark law student I can attest that I have never heard any student voice opinions even close to those in the letter above. Instead, the school is often known for its liberal leanings, including the extensive work the clinics do to support civil rights, womens rights, and to provide legal support for families, battered women, and low income people. Please don’t let this moron form your opinion of Rutgers. We’re normally pretty awesome 🙂

    Students must adhere to both the Unversity and Law School codes of conduct, as well as meet the codes of character and fitness required by the bar association, as discussed by Courtney Milan, above. I would recommend contacting Dean Chen and/or Dean Rothman.

  31. Kayla S says:

    Wow… I mean… Wow… what else can I say?? That’s a “special” message for sure…

    I second @ DreadPriateRachel above… “Keep up the good, er, Devil’s work!”

     

  32. Lynnd says:

    Sarah, I’m with Courtney Milan on this one – pass his correspondence on to his law school administrators.  If someone is stealing a student’s identity to send this crap, then you will be doing both the student and the school a service.  If it really is the guy, you will be doing those of us in the legal profession a service.

    If he happens to sue you in Canada, I’d be more than happy to defend you :-).  Keep up the good devil’s work!

  33. So… if he is going to burn ALL of your books… are you looking forward to another print run?  And how is he going to burn the ebooks?

     

  34. Belinda Jones says:

    What Gd stand for? I only only think of God Damn.

  35. Pamela Clare says:

    I believe romantic fiction is inherently feminist, so it doesn’t surprise me one bit that some reactionary, misogynist, anti-Semitic lunatic would lash out at a prominent figure in the world of romantic fiction. If you only knew for certain it was this law student, I think Courtney is right — reporting him might get someone clearly unqualified to practice law booted out of the program.

    I love how woman haters twist faith and make up their own crap to justify the ways in which they hope to repress women. And the Kinder, Küche, Kirche comment — repulsive.

    Sorry you have to put up with such BS, Sarah. Still, it’s good to know that romantic fiction is so very subversive!

  36. Clau says:

    OMG! I read it twice and I still can believe it!!! I guess he doesn’t believe if you don’t like it don’t read it and leave the author alone.
    If he is going to be a lawyer, God help us all!!!

    Sarah keep going hon, we love you!!!

  37. Forget the throw pillow and t-shirt, I’ll take it cross stitched onto some bondage gear. A gag, some restraints, oh, and wood burned or drilled into a paddle as well. Thank you.

  38. Belinda Jones says:

    So I read the email thrice and I can only think that it’s so over the top that this guy is trying to troll.

    “The iniquity of your books are unfathomable and it is vile and diabolical garbage. ” Then says Shakespeare would mock you? Shakespeare who wrote of witches and murder and revenge?

    He goes on a stint about god and the devil, but then says “You don’t know anything, you disregard Darwinism and evolution.” Those religious nutbags typically think evolution and “Darwinism” is t3h devil11!1.

    The email seems so contradictory to me. Maybe it’s just a Poe. Who knows. It’s just one of those times where I squint my eyes and think to myself in my best Fry voice “Can’t tell if stupid, or trolling.” Then I laugh.

  39. Flo_over says:

    I think he’s about to flip a table there.  Perhaps a table filled with your books.

    Totally have this theory that his long time proper little girlfriend who was all “Children, Kitchen, Church” suddenly saw your book, read it, and now glomps onto romance novels and isn’t interested in his feeble attempts at “doing her duty” however he wants it.

    At least that’s what I’m imagining.  And it makes me laaaaaaugh.

  40. LaraAmber says:

    I would definitely report the email to the school.  He sounds unhinged enough to open fire on campus. 

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